Pronunciation: yan-doo-SOR-us
Meaning: Salt capital lizard
Author/s: He (1979)
Synonyms: None known
First Discovery: Sichuan, China
Discovery Chart Position: #273
Yandusaurus hongheensis
The remains of what would become Yandusaurus were discovered by construction workers operating huge diggers at the Honghe Dam Site at Zigong in 1973, and by discovered we mean pulverized. The remains, or what was left of them, were affectionately referred to as "Yubasaurus" or "Honghesaurus" by locals, but Beijing professor Xinlu He settled on Yandusaurus hongheensis for its official description in 1979, referring to the area in which it was found.
Yandusaurus is one of the most primitive known ornithopods and, like most primitive ornithopods, it was previously called a "hypsilophodont". It was a small, bipedal, fleet-footed herbivore, with five-fingered hands, four-toed feet, and large eyes, and split its time between chomping foliage with its unique, vertically-ridged teeth and avoiding the Lower Shaximiao's least dubious predator, Gasosaurus.
Yandusaurus is one of the most primitive known ornithopods and, like most primitive ornithopods, it was previously called a "hypsilophodont". It was a small, bipedal, fleet-footed herbivore, with five-fingered hands, four-toed feet, and large eyes, and split its time between chomping foliage with its unique, vertically-ridged teeth and avoiding the Lower Shaximiao's least dubious predator, Gasosaurus.
(Salt Capital Lizard)
Etymology
Yandusaurus is derived from "Yandu" (the ancient name for Zigong) and the Greek "sauros" (lizard). Yandu is a contraction of "yan" (salt), and "du" (capital), occasioned by the fact that Zigong was historically the centre of Chinese salt mining. In a way this also honors the Salt Museum where the specimen's describer, Xinlu He, was professor. The species epithet, hongheensis, means "from Honghe" in Latin and refers to the Honghe river.
Discovery
The remains of Yandusaurus were
discovered in the Lower Shaximiao (Xiashaximiao) Formation at the
Jinzidang composter, near Honghe Dam at Hongheba, approximately 10 km from Dashanpu, Zigong municipality, Sichuan Province, China, in 1973.
The holotype (GCC V20501) is a partial and badly damaged skeleton.
